Tom Roper and the missing $3 Millon

I'll tell you where the mission $3 million went. Junkets and legal fees. Why are the members paying for George Doubts legal fees against Lila Hacket and Sherryl Anderson? They have to pay their own legal fees. Sherryl was awarded costs in her decision but it was a long road to get there. She had to come up with $63,000.00 out of her own pocket to fight them. That is why many fold like a cheap tent and why this corporate tactic is normally so effective at crushing human rights. Thankfully, Sherryl and Lila did not fold.

Where is the Unions financial breakdown of the costs associated with suing it's own members? How much has it and will it cost to continue stalling off Mimi Williams, Sherryl Anderson and Lila Hacket's cases? That's a lot of money spent on legal fees against it's own members that could be better spent on something else.

Lila's case is against George Doubt. Yet the members are footing his legal bill. Not only his legal bill but his legal bill to dismiss her application as well as his application for a judicial review appealing the courts decision not to dismiss her application. This is a whole lot of money spent stalling things off without even dealing with the issues on the table.

In fact, I am of the understanding that the TWU has retained a very high priced corporate lawyer named Thomas Roper to argue the Judicial Review. If the regular priced lawyers aren't good enough for George Doubt then he should foot that bill out of his own pocket.

When I visited Lane Street in January of 2010, I also posted a resolution locals could submit calling upon the TWU Executive to cease and desist using Union dues to pay for lawyers to sue their own members. I'll have to find it and repost it. I understand now that some locals are talking about submitting resolutions to the Executive calling upon them to recoup the lost union dues already spent on legal fees against their own members. Stay tuned. The heat is on.

Lila Hacket and Sherryl Anderson were Wrongfully Fired by the TWU

I'm not going to discuss Lila and Sherryl's legal cases much but I will say one thing: they were both wrongfully fired by the TWU executive. Yes they were fired.

When I visited Lane street January of 2010 I said what they did to Lila and Sherryl was wrong. Darth Sidious' new caucus obsessed over gag orders surrounding the cases trying to prevent the cases and their evidence to be mentioned at convention which might well affect their reelection campaigns. So I just recorded my dissent and said I disagreed with what they did.

Now two decisions have come out that people are starting to talk about. Lila Hacket's decision is posted on the BC Human Right Tribunal web site. It was just a stepping stone. The Union applied to have her complaint dismissed and the decision stated her complaint may proceed. I understand that the Union has now retained a high priced lawyer to apply for a judicial review of that decision.

Basically they are spending a whole lot of money to stall her complaint so the details of it won't make convention and affect their reelection campaigns. IMO.

Here's the deal: Lila had a stroke around convention in 2007. She was very overworked and was a real workers hero helping the members see how they were being betrayed by Bruce Bell and Buzz Hargrove. She received a standing ovation from the members for her minority report.

So after all that stress, she had a stroke at one of the subsequent conventions. Yet she was back at work in a very short time. After being back at work for two years George Doubt sent her a letter firing her. The timing of the letter was very suspicious.

At the 2009 convention Lila saw the writing on the wall. She started to see signs that there wasn't something quite right about George Doubt and his very controlling nature that quickly turned into harassment of Bellite proportions. Lila left her caucus and supported Colin Anderson at the 2009 Convention. The delegates were still bitter about how they sued the Brave 66 and didn't want to support Colin because of it. The delegates weren't privy to the real life dealings of the new Darth Sideous either.

Their caucus promised there would be no political retaliation for Lila's decision. That promise was betrayed and Lila was harassed afterwards by the executive members she originally helped get elected. She became a target. Her local was taken from her and shortly thereafter she was fired.

George wrote the letter of Lila's termination but Tamara rationalized it. They said it was because of Lila's health and was in her best interest. What a crock of shit that was. It was in their best interest to keep Lila's mouth shut about the budget. Lila and Sherryl were actively involved in being loyal stewards of the Unions money which saw the loans from the lockout paid off so soon.

So Lila's dismissal was under suspicious circumstances. After they got rid of Lila, they went after Sherryl. The harassment campaign began which forced her on medical leave. She sent out an e-mail to the delegates notifying them that she did not agree with the new financial direction the Executive had suddenly taken. As the elected Secretary Treasurer of the Union who worked so hard to get the finances in order she simply recorded her dissent with regards to the new direction the new Darth Sidious caucus were taking. They fired her for warning the members. Then they gagged her so no one would be allowed to talk about it.



The other decision that people are talking about is the Vince Ready Sherryl Anderson VS George Doubt Decision. That decision contains the Decision of Final Resolve which simply was the letter they sent to Sherryl wrongfully terminating her. Now the Darth Sidious caucus is saying they won't pay the damages she was awarded until she signs a letter of resignation. Yet the whole point of the complaint was that she was wrongfully terminated.

In response to this decision, famous TWU activist Stephen Barber said: After reading the Ready Judgement - TWU/Doubt vs Anderson, I think it might be time for some FIFOunion ballcaps.



Steve Barber was the activist who created the famous FIFOTel hats worn on the picketline mocking the CEO's comments about how the Union can Fit in or Fuck Off! It would appear that after exploiting the Bruce Bells trauma, Darth Sidious has become the same as Bruce Bell and the CEO. Indeed, there is a Justification Process for everything.

Tamara Marshall's Credibility Gap

Members have questioned Tamara Marshall's credibility. She pounded the pulpit at the 2010 TWU Convention insisting that the Union was in strong financial condition and that the talk of a missing million dollars were vicious rumors and was absolutely false. Yet not long after that same convention she sent out a letter describing the financial hardship the Union was under justifying the need for a dues increase. So what happened?

That letter has members and delegates questioning Tamara Marshall's credibility. If the Union was in a difficult financial situation a few months after convention, just maybe they were at convention and Tamara was lying.

By the way, I said three million was missing not one million. Some say it's not missing, they cooked the books but I say it is missing. Right before Sherryl Anderson and Lila Hacket were fired by the Executive, the TWU worked very hard to pay off all their debts owed to other Unions from the long labour dispute in 2005. By the 2009 Convention the TWU had paid off all their loans and were three million dollars ahead. After they fired Sherryl and Lila, by December of that same year they were no longer three million dollars ahead. They were in financial difficulties. That is why I say they lost $3 Million. At the 2009 convention they were $3 Million ahead, six months later that money was spent.

$1 million for negotiations? Let's have an itemized accounting of those expenditures. I don't think they are properly submitting their expenses and I think they are hiding their junkets by throwing out random numbers here and there without giving anything close to an accurate financial accounting of how that money was spent.

By July of 2010 the Union implemented an unheard of corporate tactic and locked out COPE to roll back their office staff's wages and benefits due to financial hardship. In fact, they even laid off two Cope staff as a result. Only they laid off the two staff with the highest seniority in Alberta because someone doesn't like them, then hired temps in BC. Tamara says she doesn't think there's a grievance and they have laid off two of the most senior members “purely for financial reasons”.

In fact, there has been a great deal of drama displayed by the executive of the Union trying to convince the members what a financial crisis the Union is in that would justify a dues increase. The Union will not longer pay for the members to be trained at the CLC Winter school in Harrison. If a member wants to go, they have to pay for it themselves. The Union has cut back members and delegates per diems. In fact, if you want a shop steward manual, you now have to pay $20.

In Tamara's defense I will say that in my opinion she is not the driving force behind the financial mismanagement and the malicious attacks on fellow members and officers but I will say she is an active participant helping to cover their tracks and rationalize their misdeeds. BTW Is Peter Massey working for another Union now and in fact representing COPE mistreated by the TWU? Wouldn't that be ironic.



So where did the $3 million go after they FIRED Sheryl and Lila?

Show me the money!

Cathedral Grove from the Cascadia Suit

I went to a band concert last night and one of the visiting community bands performed Cathedral Grove from the Cascadia Suit by Robert Buckley. Turns out Robert Buckley is from the Vancouver area and wrote the piece about the Cathedral Grove old growth forest on Vancouver Island from an eagle's perspective flying overhead. I found the metaphor striking and had to look into it.

Here's a link to the song on Bob Buckley's actual web site and here's the music. From the ground the old growth forest is very impressive. From Google street view it kinda just looks like a bunch of trees but as you descend, like an eagle would, to rest in the upper limbs of those majestic giants, it would be significantly impressive. Hence the awe inspiring persona of the musical piece.

Unfortunately it appears that clear cut logging has once again plagued the forest worse than the pine beetle. Is nothing sacred any more? Do we not understand selective tree harvesting? Must we continue to rape the landscape with clear cuts that do not get properly replenished when tree planting only has a 30% success rate?



Majestic yet sad and ominous. The Buffalo are gone. Will the eagle be next? Clear cutting the trees chokes our own existence for a quick buck. Obviously we need paper. Sad the pulp and paper industry shut down all the hemp farms which were far more sustainable. Hemp grown for paper doesn't get you high. It just creates a sustainable alternative to the pulp and paper industries clear cuts. Sad.

I did see an eagle the other day. I love kayaking on the Harrison River in November or visiting Brackendale between December 15 to January 15 to see the eagles migrate to feed on the rotting chum carcases after they have spawned.

Well the other day I was driving to Langley and as soon as I came off the freeway turning onto 200th street I had to slow down because there was a huge black bird on the road. At first I thought it looked like a vulture picking up some garbage but we don't have vultures around here. As I squinted to try and focus it was clear it had a rabbit in it's talons. Then as it turned and flew off with the rabbit I could clearly see it was a bald eagle right in front of me. I was somewhat impressed.